Impacts of elephants disturbances on local community: A case study of Sitalike village near Katavi National Park

Abstract:

Crop production is the principal economic activity in the local community surrounding Katavi National park. Elephant’s raids upon these crops are thought to be key constraints on income generation. This project made the first quantitative assessment of this problems .therefore this project addresses those impacts of Elephants disturbances to the local communities.Purposefully sampling were used in selecting a selected village Sitalike village and random sampling method was used for selecting the sample households(respondents) .A total sample of 32 households were interviewed in this study. The structured questionnaire and discussions were used to get information relevant to the study. Descriptive statistics such as frequency and percentage were used to accomplish the objective and presentation of results of the study.Farmer perceptions on Elephants which induce disturbances and raids their crops were heavily influenced by farmer‘s ability to defend themselves. Common animals such as Rodents, Birds and cattle caused considerable crop damage but were not quantified in this study. Variations in crop damage were evident and are potentially related to distance of a village from the park boundaries, Elephants distribution and their movement patterns.This study documented the existence of Elephant’s disturbances in Sitalike village and has demonstrated that local community are willing and able to collaborate with any authority to address this problems .However multi year study is needed to allow a full assessment of the temporal and spatial patterns by this one year study. And assessment of the causal factors will allow the implementation of effective mitigation measures.